The present invention relates to an electronic catalog apparatus and method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a virtual product catalog and product inventory control and presentation apparatus and method.
The present invention provides a virtual product catalog and product presentation apparatus to assist with merchandising of products. One problem is common to the merchandising of all products. This problem is the inability to determine which categories of a product line will sell well at a particular store location. The result is that a product that sells well at one location may have a poor sales record at another location, such as in another city or on an other side of town. Since inventory turnover is the key to profits in retailing, this inability to forecast customer requirements accurately reduces profits for retailers.
Two common methods have been applied to attempt to reduce this problem. One method is to build “superstores” in order to assure product availability by offering a very large selection. The superstore provides a larger base of products in order to give the illusion of providing one-stop shopping to customers. Superstores, however, do not optimize inventory. A second method is to tailor product availability to regular customers of a specific store and to move product in and out of stock rapidly at each location based on customer demands. Both methods have had some success. This second method, typically called vertical or niche merchandising, does a better job of managing inventory while supplying regular customers with the products they require. The second method, however, has the disadvantage of making each store layout unique and having product availability which is inconsistent between stores.
The present invention is designed to provide a solution to the product merchandising problem. Throughout this specification, the present invention will be described in connection with jewelry industry products. It is understood, however, that the apparatus and method of the present invention may be used with any type of products. Therefore, the examples of jewelry industry products are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
In the jewelry industry, purchasing decisions of customers are based largely upon visual appreciation of style and color. When a prospective customer enters a jewelry store, he or she approaches the showcase containing those pieces of specific interest, such as engagement rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets, necklaces, etc. The jeweler then brings a tray of items to the counter where one or more pieces of interest to the perspective customer are placed to the side for further study. The jeweler continues this process until a few pieces of particular interest have been gathered. At this point, the prospective customer's attention is focused on these few pieces and the jeweler can now bring closure to the sale. If the prospective customer does not find any of the in-stock items to be of interest, the jeweler can only suggest that the customer look at a competitors' in-stock products offering or look through several catalogs for something that more closely meets with the customers requirements.
Apparatus and method of the present invention, the shortcomings of the standard merchandising are overcome by providing an electronic image of the various products available to the customer using a computer at the store location. Unlike the limitations of physical space and financing imposed on in-stock inventory, a video catalog can offer a substantially greater number of product selections. In addition, the apparatus of the present invention provides an efficient and secure method of demonstrating products to the customer.
Using the apparatus of the present invention, the customer is led to a particular product category via a hierarchical menu structure. Once the product category is selected, the customer browses through various available items. The customer then selects products of interest by using a menu icon and a computer mouse input device or by touching the icon on the screen if the system utilizes a touch screen monitor. An image of each selected product item and its associated data are then placed in a separate review box on the computer screen for further review. As additional items of interest are found, these items may also be placed in remaining boxes. The number of review boxes for reviewing products is typically based on monitor and graphics resolution capabilities. Illustratively, four such review boxes are used for reviewing selected products. It is understood that more or less image boxes can be used depending upon the application and the available display technology.
One feature of this invention is the ability to select individual product items as they are displayed in image boxes and to move the selected product items to a separate review screen. This permits the customer to browse through multiple categories of items and move selected product items to a separate review screen for later inspection and side-by-side comparison to other selected product items. Once a few selected items of interest are moved to the review screen, again arbitrarily limited to four items, these items can be compared side-by-side for a quick decision of which item the customer would like to purchase. If the selected item for purchase is not in stock, the apparatus of the present invention generates an order form for electronic or manual delivery to the product vendor.
The present invention enables the jeweler to minimize actual in-stock inventory to only those items required to provide the prospective customer the look and feel of the quality of similar merchandise. At the same time, the jeweler can offer a very large selection of products and can demonstrate these products to customers quickly and efficiently. The present invention therefore improves the efficiency of product presentation, improves sales productivity, and provides means for implementing just-in-time inventory for the retail merchandiser.
The present invention also provides the operator with the ability to overlay an image of a product on a desired background. In merchandising, special days are used to help generate interest in a particular product. When advertising products for these special days or seasons, a merchandiser typically generates a flyer having pictures of the merchandise on a background illustrating or representing the particular holiday.
The present invention provides the operator the capability of dynamically applying a desired background to a product image. For instance, a Christmas scene may be dynamically applied as the background to a piece of jewelry that the retailer wishes to offer as a Christmas special. A different background can be applied for every day of the year to selected pieces of merchandise. This allows the merchandiser to have a virtual catalog where both the product selection and the product presentation can change on demand.
Techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,490 may be used to integrate and maintain static or constant data and variable data. The present invention uses a “map” to define the exact way a product image, product information, and background image are integrated together to provide a visual product presentation on the computer located at the store location. In addition, all components of the presentation image can be managed and maintained by a central server located at the vendor's corporate location. This allows corporate marketing and advertising departments to control and manage product presentation efficiently at each sales location.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for presenting a plurality of product images for review by a user on a computer including a display, a memory, and an input device. The method includes the steps of displaying a plurality of product images on the display, providing product image review boxes on the display for a side-by-side comparison of selected product images, receiving a user input selecting a product image from the plurality of product images displayed on the display, and displaying the selected product image in one of the review boxes for a side-by-side comparison with at least one other selected product image.
In the illustrative method, the step of displaying a plurality of product images includes the step of displaying a scroll box on the display which includes the plurality of product images from the selected product category. The product images in the review boxes are typically larger than the product images in the scroll box. The selected product images are displayed in the next available review box until all the review boxes are filled with product images. The next selected product image replaces the product image in one of the review boxes. The user may select the review box in which to replace the product image after all the review boxes are filled with product images.
The illustrated method also includes the steps of receiving a user input to order a selected product displayed on the display, and automatically generating an order form for the selected product. The method further includes the step of automatically transmitting the order form for the selected product from the computer to a vendor's computer located at a remote location.
According to another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for presenting a plurality of product images for review by a user on a computer including a display, a memory, and an input device. The method includes the steps of displaying a menu including a plurality of available vendors on the display, receiving a user input selecting one of the vendors, displaying a product category menu on the display for products available from a selected vendor, receiving a user input selecting one of the product categories from the product category menu, and displaying a plurality of product images on the display from the selected product category. The method also includes the steps of providing at least two product image review boxes on the display for a side-by-side comparison of selected product images, receiving a user input selecting a product image from the plurality of product images displayed on the display, and displaying the selected product image in one of the display boxes for a side-by-side comparison with at least one other selected product image.
The product category menu is typically a hierarchical product category menu including at least two levels. In the illustrated method, the hierarchical product category menu includes three levels.
The illustrated method further includes the step of establishing a communication link between the computer and a vendor's computer located at a remote location after the desired product category is selected. The vendor's computer transmits variable data and updated constant data related to the plurality of products from the selected product category to the computer.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for displaying a product image for review by a user on a computer including a display, a memory, and an input device. The method includes the steps of storing a plurality of product images in the memory of the computer, storing a plurality of background images in the memory of the computer, and selecting one of the background images to be displayed on the display with each product image. The method also includes the steps of receiving a user input to display a selected product image, and integrating the selected product image with the selected background image on the display to provide a customized product image on the display.
In one embodiment of the illustrated method, the product image and the selected background image are integrated based on a map transmitted to the computer from a vendor's computer located at a remote location. The step of storing a plurality of product images in the memory of the computer illustratively includes the steps of photographing the products against a black background, converting the photographic product image into a digital product image data format, changing any black pixels in the digital product image data to cyan pixels, and storing the modified product image data in the computer memory. The integrating step includes the step of overlaying the modified product image data over a selected background image on the display so that the cyan pixels in the modified product image data permit the background image to be displayed on the display.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for presenting a plurality of product images for review by a user. The apparatus includes a computer including a display, a memory, and an input device. The apparatus also includes means for displaying a plurality of product images on the display, means for providing product image review boxes on the display for a side-by— side comparison of selected product images, means for receiving a user input selecting a product image from the plurality of product images displayed on the display, and means for displaying the selected product image in one of the review boxes for a side-by-side comparison with at least one other selected product image.
In the illustrated apparatus, the means for displaying a plurality of product images includes means for displaying a scroll box on the display which includes the plurality of product images from the selected product category. The product images in the review boxes are typically larger than the product images in the scroll box. The selected product images are displayed in the next available review box until all the review boxes are filled with product images. The next selected product image replaces the product image in one of the review boxes. In one embodiment, the user selects the review box in which to replace the product image after all the review boxes are filled with product images.
The illustrative apparatus further includes means for receiving a user input to order a selected product displayed on the display, and means for generating an order form for the selected product. The apparatus also includes means for transmitting the order form for the selected product from the computer to a vendor's computer located at a remote location.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for presenting a plurality of product images for review by a user. The apparatus includes a computer including a display, a memory, and an input device. The apparatus also includes means for displaying a menu including a plurality of available vendors on the display, means for receiving a user input selecting one of the vendors, means for displaying a product category menu on the display for products available from a selected vendor, means for receiving a user input selecting one of the product categories from the product category menu, and means for displaying a plurality of product images on the display from the selected product category. The apparatus further includes means for providing at least two product image review boxes on the display for a side-by-side comparison of selected product images, means for receiving a user input selecting a product image from the plurality of product images displayed on the display, and means for displaying the selected product image in one of the display boxes for a side-by-side comparison with at least one other selected product image.
One embodiment of the apparatus includes means for establishing a communication link between the computer and a vendor's computer located at a remote location after the desired product category is selected. The vendor's computer transmits variable data and updated constant data related to the plurality of products from the selected product category to the computer.
According to an additional aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for displaying a product image for review by a user. The apparatus includes a computer including a display, a memory, and an input device. The apparatus also includes means for storing a plurality of product images in the memory of the computer, means for storing a plurality of background images in the memory of the computer, means for selecting one of the background images to be displayed on the display with each product image, means for receiving a user input to display a selected product image, and means for integrating the selected product image with the selected background image on the display to provide a customized product image on the display.
In the illustrated apparatus, the product image and the selected background image are integrated by the integrating means based on a map transmitted to the computer from a vendor's computer located at a remote location. The integrating means includes means for overlaying the product image over a selected background image on the display.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.